If you live in Kansas City or have visited, you may be familiar with the beautiful hotel and spa, Chateau Avalon. The boutique, award-winning hotel features 61 rooms and gives guests an experience of ...
Some owners focus on growing their profits, while others are obsessed with sales goals. You may also find yourself concentrating on the deeper impact of your business and leadership - on your sphere, ...
I’ve long been a fan of annual letters for their ability to show a different side of a business, leadership team, and reality about what’s happening. So, here’s Acumen’s annual letter. What would you ...
'Tis the season for goal setting and creating a fresh start. As the cliche says - "New Year, New Me," right? Gyms are starting to fill up, our pantries are looking healthier, and our brains are ...
Our family congregates in the family room most nights after dinner is over - homework begins, and laptops and tablets are open. My youngest has started getting into football, so Monday Night Football ...
Last night I met up with a friend for an after-work cocktail. Tom and I had worked together in three different companies. Both of us are in the autumn of our careers, so our conversation quickly ...
As busy CEOs and business owners, it’s easy to make yourself last and constantly bend to the needs of the business. The reality is that most companies these days run 24/7. However, humans do not, as ...
How about a little hot stove league in the middle of December?! In 2018, veteran first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, Chris Davis, went 0-54 in plate appearances, a hitless streak that spanned 17 ...
Marty Thiel is an outdoorsman who turned his passion for the outdoors into a career. During college, he took his first job with Graff’s Turf during the summer. Enjoying all things outside, Thiel ...
When I was courting the woman who is now my wife, we spent a few Thanksgiving together at her Mom’s house. It’s funny when you only know one way for the traditions in your life. Then you show up ...
I don’t think I’ve ever fully earned the label of “control freak“ (though, at times, my wife would argue that point). Certainly, I have spent much of my life thinking I either had control of or ...
As a leader, is it hard to invest in and drive a consistent cultural experience throughout your organization? As a company grows, the direct impact you can have as a CEO or Owner can be constrained. ...
I've been getting into the creative process lately. What is creativity? How does it happen? Where does inspiration come from? How might you capture it?
A colleague of mine one time told me “My goal for the year is to be a tractor. I want to clear all of the rocks and unnecessary mess, and give my team wide-open spaces for them to run.” She then ...
There are five people and two dogs in my house. Only second to my yelling "turn off the lights," is the constant question, "Who fed the dogs?" I believe it might be the hardest and most elusive chore ...
Fall has always been my favorite time of year. The air has a crisp feeling, the smells of apples and pumpkins, fall activities with the kids, and let’s not forget about the beautiful colors of tree ...
I had some thoughts about intentionality - in your business and life. Will you take this reflection journey with me? There's this flower called Epiphyllum Oxypetalum or, more easily remembered - the ...
Have you ever worked so hard on something in your business only to realize it didn't really matter in the end? This is a common problem many CEOs and Business Owners face when they spend too much ...
The other day I was in a meeting chatting with someone about some projects, and when I asked how they were feeling about the work, their response was, “I’m surviving.” In my mind, this is a little ...
Swell Spark...Who are they? Ever taken a date or work outing to Breakout KC? If so, this is just one of the partner companies run by the talented folks at Swell Spark. Their tagline speaks volumes - ...
Jon Schram joins Kansas City's Acumen team as a Growth Catalyst, where he empowers CEOs and Owners to grow their business, become more efficient in all they do, and enrich their storyline.
Leadership. It's complicated. If you Google' books on leadership', you will see around 1.5 billion results. Amazon will connect you to 60,000 books on leadership. People have been 'practicing' ...
Our monthly spotlight series features Ben Kimminau, Owner of Kimminau Floors. Ben is an Acumen partner in our CEO team Ignite led by Growth Catalyst, Scott Stanger.
When you think of the word “community” what comes to mind? Maybe your neighborhood? The local community center near you? A group of people that meet at a coffee shop each week?
Our next Partner Spotlight is Rob Poettgen, President of Bordner Home Improvement. Rob is an Acumen partner in our CEO team, Ignite led by Growth Catalyst, Scott Stanger.
In August every year, Weatherby Lake hosts the Jeremey Katzenberger Memorial Triathlon, an event honoring a fallen Army Ranger who grew up here. In yesterday’s planning meeting for the 2022 event, ...
About a year ago when things were getting back to semi-normal, I decided it was time to get back into fitness. I was a new mom thrown into a pandemic, and I desperately needed to get to a gym for my ...
In December of last year, we were quoting McKinsey research: “Two-thirds of employees quit jobs without a new job lined up. Among those likely to exit, 60 percent said they are leaving in the next ...
I hardly turn on the TV anymore. Bad news everywhere. Ukraine. The Border—is it closed or open? Oil prices are through the roof, and Inflation is at record highs. Interest rates are up, and the ...
Our next Partner Spotlight is Brent Blacklock, Partner with TPP Certified Public Accountants, LLC. Brent is a partner in our Acumen key executive team, Premier.
This month we are highlighting, Ryan Warman, Chief Operating Officer with Pearce Construction. Ryan is a partner in the key executive Acumen team, Ascend.
This month we are highlighting Acumen partner, Jessica Ray, Executive Director of GOEX Apparel. Jessica celebrates her five-year anniversary this month and is part of the key-executive team, Ascend, ...
How often do you see a doctor to check up on your health? Maybe once a year? Or when you’re forced to stop ignoring the problem? People are not healthy all the time. The same is true for your team ...
It's with great excitement that we kick off a new series to our blog: Partner Spotlight Series will highlight members in our community with their business ventures while sharing their stories and ...
I’ve long been a fan of annual letters for their ability to show a different side of a business, leadership team, and reality about what’s going on. So as I begin my season as CEO, I decided to kick ...
Ten years ago, I began a journey to help other CEOs and owners engage in a very unique community that would help them avoid some of the stupid (and expensive) mistakes I made and minefields I stepped ...
This year was record-breaking, with more than 19 million US workers (and counting) quitting their jobs and moving on to something else. This leaves the war on talent even more crucial in the new ...
I have been an entrepreneur and business owner nearly my entire professional career. It has been a journey of incredible high’s and low’s; victories and defeats; life lessons and stories of impact. ...
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and realized you had done all the talking? Or are you quick to jump to conclusions? One way or another, we have all been there and had a ...
Acumen president, Dan Cooper joins Fred Herron on “Spirituality Adventures” and shares his insightful entrepreneurial journey and Acumen’s catalytic community. Learn how plain glass before stain ...
There was a small fire on the roof that was starting to spread. My father had the hose out, trying to keep it from spreading faster while waiting for the fire truck to show up, which seemed to be ...
Over the last six years, Acumen has built a community of CEOs and Owners in Kansas City to create a more significant impact and influence for all constituents.
My wife Ali has a great sense of smell. I think it goes back to when she was pregnant and could smell frozen fruit from a mile away. Who can smell frozen fruit? It’s frozen! I think she ate most of ...
Easter always makes me think about renewal. The old is gone; the new has come. Spring is here. The light at the end of the tunnel with the “pandemic who should not be named” is refreshing.
Founding a company is hard. Creating something out of nothing based upon your limited expertise, your investment of time, money, and resources can take everything you have. You build your business ...
I don’t think I have to go too far out on a limb to say that we are in a leadership crisis at the top of our biggest and most high-profile organizations – public, private, and non-profit.
I do my worst work in isolation. When I find myself solving problems, dealing with challenges, parsing out situations in my head – and only MY head, I find my decisions and outlook on the world is ...
This is from a response from a newsletter reader to our blog last week, How to Assess Your Leadership Fires, where we broke down the acronym F.I.R.E.S. to help you start planning for 2021.
I got two letters in the mail last month that were baffling. They came together in the same envelope. I read them six times and still wasn’t sure what was true. In fact, after reading them, I had ...
“And then I found myself pointing at the clerk and strongly telling her my mask WAS on all the way. How can I try on glasses if the mask is up to the top of my nose?”
I had an interesting company exit when I sold our company. (cue egos and lawyers) One day I was the CEO. The next day, I wasn’t. No party, no handshakes, or fist bumps. I couldn’t let the team know ...
In the Acumen community, 20% of our partner companies went to zero revenue in the shutdown. Over half lost between 20-40% of revenue. Then there was the lucky 20% that didn’t have enough hours in a ...
I had lunch at an actual restaurant with a client last week. We sat on the patio. It was awesome. It was the first time either of us had been outside “in real life” since all this began. OK – enough ...
One of the discussions we’re currently having on our now weekly CEO team calls is “what does leadership look like now?” How do we replace the emergency room triage feel of the last 6 weeks and ...
Reluctantly, I showed up on Saturday to this “retreat.” It was an invitation from a friend and I’d been asked half a dozen times to participate over the years. In a moment of weakness I said yes. It ...
As we talked about in a blog earlier this year that it’s outcomes, not output for you as you rise the ranks of leadership, the discussion is coming up more often – so what do I do? Yes, there is more ...
The recent write up my business partner, Dan Cooper lobbed out there entitled “All Entrepreneurs Are Liars,” hurt, didn’t it? I talked to a handful of entrepreneurs who bristled when they first read ...
One of my CEO teams went on our annual adventure trip we call Outbound last week. The team visited the Hoy family’s Flying W Ranch in the Flint Hills; 7000 acres of rustic Kansas that is home to long ...
All these quotes on twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. Man, you’d think we’d be the most motivated wise and loving people on earth. As I scrolled down the feed the other day, I saw two quotes ...
I’ve read many articles, blogs and books on the concept of work-life balance. Heck, I’ve written them too specifically around harmony, and an assessment called the wheel of reality. I was recently ...
Do you ever notice how infatuated we get by stories? People binge stories. Think gossip, Netflix, internet clickbait. Think America’s Got Talent, The Voice, The Bachelorette (Yes, it’s still on), ...
I can officially say I survived an EF-4 tornado. Our home and neighborhood were directly in the path. Full brunt! We had plenty of warning and could see it coming our way. We have a decent storm ...
After reading hundreds of business and leadership books over dozens of years, I found that there are similar themes written differently and a changing focus based on the changing times. It makes ...
I recently got to hang out with some old college buds down in Phoenix. As is often the case when we go to Phoenix in the winter/spring season, hiking was on the itinerary. The Valley of the Sun is ...
Last week I had a client tell me he felt guilty if he came in late to the office. Even if it was for a business breakfast with a center of influence or longtime business associate turned friend. Then ...
We painted every room in our house when we first moved in. It needed it. The colors were wrong, and it just felt old. The before and after was like those house fixer-upper shows. It was like a new ...
As teenagers, my parents forced us to talk about what we learned that day at dinner (the horror). Also as teenagers, we had bad speaking habits. One of them was the word “like.” Like was a word that ...
I had the privilege of attending a “White Coat” ceremony that my daughter participated in during her first semester as a nursing student. Initially, I thought that the ceremony might be ...
The entire Acumen community gets together with their leadership teams ever quarter to connect, get sharper, challenge the status quo, and be inspired by others ideas and best practices.
I got to the point that I couldn’t do it all anymore. In the small office we started the business in, I was the salesman, graphic designer, videographer, editor, IT, and the janitor.
If you were going to be stabbed, wouldn’t you like to see it coming? That way, you would know who is stabbing you and perhaps be able to defend yourself.
I woke up to the morning snow last week and marveled at the beautiful snowscape. Everything was covered in 6 inches of snow (12 inches if you were my youngest). I then let the dog out and followed ...
It’s all about gratitude. Gratitude feeds the soul and is the beginning of joy. At our first Acumen meeting of the year, we talked about what we learned and what we were grateful for in 2018, and ...
I love this time of year for self-reflection. There’s always room to revisit your personal strategic plan. One of the big questions I’ve been asking of clients (and myself) is: What did you learn ...
During this time of the holidays I’ve found that more people are stressed out, depressed, lonely, tired, worn out, burned out, and the complete opposite of what the “world” tells us this time of year ...
We had “SNOWMAGGEDON” on Sunday in Kansas City, and the kids were off school on Monday. Most businesses started late as well. What a treat, an extra day after Thanksgiving for all of us to be ...
It’s one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. Holidays, people off work, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the family you want to shop with or a reason to get out of the house.
My parents were in this weekend and, like grandparents may do, my Dad told a “Dan story” to my kids. When he talks, they listen. I can’t wait to be a grandparent to get that superpower.
Last week we had friend of the community and Referral Coach, Stacey Brown Randall, in to discuss how to create a process to generate more referrals with a group of Acumen CEOs and owners.
Our firm’s office lease was due to expire in about six months, so we began the process of evaluating new office space. I distinctly remember walking into a vacant space that we were considering. The ...
It was the first time I was recognized publicly. I had just joined a technology company as an inside salesperson. Part of onboarding was to work for a week in tech support. Answering phones made me ...
I have been a member OrangeTheory Fitness for about a year and half now (no they did not pay me to say that). I was working out today and marveling at how they keep me interested in coming back. A ...
It was the day before the three partners were going to our lawyer’s office to finalize our partnership separation. It was up in the air about who was going to own the company at the end of the ...
The old adage of “wherever you go, there you are” is certainly true. When you are going 1,000 miles an hour and earning your Busy Badge, you may not be working towards real progress. I’ve worn that ...
TO OWNERS WHO WANT TO OFFER EQUITY: OWNER BEWARE! We had yet another discussion in a monthly Acumen team regarding a strained partnership. It was a classic case of miscommunication, false ...
DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES WHEN TEXTING YOUR TEAM? Have you added texting to your media mix when you communicate with your team? Leaders are embracing texting over other mediums to connect and ...
Solitude>Gratitude>Attitude>Altitude. In my previous write up, I confessed that I didn’t have an attitude switch… and that if I sought “altitude”, a healthy attitude would be essential.
Solitude>Gratitude>Attitude>Altitude. In my previous write-up, I confessed that I didn’t have an attitude switch… and that if I sought “altitude,” a healthy attitude would be essential.
Solitude>Gratitude>Attitude>Altitude. In my previous write-up, I confessed that I didn’t have an attitude switch…and that if I sought “altitude”, a healthy attitude would be essential. I’ve ...
4ti‘tudes? What kind of word derivative is that? Another clever cliché attempt? Perhaps yes! Years and years ago I was encouraged that, “Your altitude will be determined by your attitude.” Great ...
I was at our quarterly Advance Leadership Workshop this week. The facilitator had us in groups of two discussing a simple problem. My partner for the experience was talking about his daughter and how ...
Zig Ziglar has a great bit he does on a million dollar racehorse. He asks his audience if they owned a million dollar racehorse, would they let it go out drinking half the night and eat junk food. Of ...
It’s a Wonderful Life and Christmas Vacation. Hard to put these two flicks in any sort of similar category other than “my two favorite Christmas movies.” Both for very different reasons (obviously)!
I had a client who had a good manager make a bad decision. The manager (he) was starting to become a little close to a particular female employee. The employee handbook strictly forbid relationships ...
Our Acumen community (CEO’s/Owners and their top exec’s) had a unique chance to host and spend time with a very prominent founder and CEO. His retail behemoth now has nearly 800 locations and over ...
I’m a big fan of Patrick Lencioni. His books, teachings, and resources that sharpen leadership effectiveness, enhance teamwork, and accelerate organizational performance are some of the best of all ...
I drive my wife crazy sometimes. One of my pet peeve’s when we travel or dine out is to carefully observe the service experience. As the owner of a couple of service businesses, I’ve always found it ...
An owner I’m working with told me the other day that he “always feels so upside down.” That’s a good way to describe what a lot of owners and CEOs feel.
I had three follow up strategy meetings in three consecutive days with three companies. Two went well, the last one was fine, but it wasn’t the same because of two words. I and me.
I attended a beautiful sunrise service in the Colorado Rockies recently. What was timely and interesting for me personally was the perspective he shared about our human default to create idols.
My 10 yr old son has a bad habit of saying “I know” to almost everything. Even after he’s asked you a question and you give him an answer he’ll belt out “I know.” After he did this to some people not ...
Greg McKeown, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less- “Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest ...
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